…when recovering from wrong goes wrong
A customer checks into a hotel and is taken to her hotel room. But the restful evening she had envisaged quickly vaporised from her mind the very instant she was ushered into her room. The uncomfortable smell of dampness and stuffiness that met her was just too much. The bellboy tried to salvage the situation by first opening the doors and windows to let in fresh air. But the damage had already been done. In the end, it seemed there was only way to bring resolution to the problem—to change the room for the customer.
After some half-hearted apologies, the customer was sent to another room, one without the suffocating feeling of the first room. Problem solved? Far from that! In fact, the customer hated the second room even more. The only good thing that room had going was that it was not as stuffy as the earlier one. But apart from that, it was pretty terrible. The bed was smaller than the one that was in the first room. The washroom was tinier. And to crown it all, it did not have the view of the first room.
The customer was so disappointed that she vowed that that was going to be the last time she was ever going to patronise that hotel. In short, the solution to the problem had turned out to be a worst problem. The attempt to salvage the situation had the same situation worse. This is akin to a road accident involving an ambulance taking a seriously ill person to the hospital.
In service literature, it is referred to as Double Deviation. Or Unsatisfactory Service Recovery. In simple terms, one can describe it as what happens when the attempt to do right by a dissatisfied customer goes wrong. ‘Double’ deviation, because the ‘first deviation’ is when a customer is originally dissatisfied with something about the service or product. The ‘second deviation’ is when the attempt to salvage the situation also goes wrong.
It is one thing to commit a wrong against the customer. But two wrongs? That situation can really throw the spanner in the works. Anyone who has dealt with customers for any considerable period of time knows this too well. Customers will throw a tantrum—rightfully so—if an attempt to rectify a wrong also goes wrong.
As a matter of fact, by the concept of Double Deviation, one can argue that there is a possibility of triple and quadruple deviation scenarios, depending on how many times any proffered solutions fail to satisfy an original wrong. I, however, have my doubts if a customer will stay that long with a company that is incapable of handling a problem within two attempts. Too many deviations will be a turnoff, even for the most committed customer.
It has been found that Double Deviation happens quite a lot. One study argues that when things do not go according to plan with service delivery, less than half of the attempts companies make at solving the problems turns out to be successful. In other words, more than 50% of all service recovery attempts are not very successful, leading to the Double Deviation Phenomenon. This is most unfortunate.
If this figure is anything to go by, then the phenomenon of Double Deviation cannot be treated as the exception. Double Deviation is actually the norm, the everyday occurrence. That makes it a very important subject that must be acknowledged and something done about it. If more than half of all attempts to solve a problem are not successful the first time, then businesses must sit up and really take a look at this phenomenon.
The effects of Double Deviation are not too difficult to guess. Anger, frustration, anxiety, hostility, bitterness and a host of negative emotions will definitely accompany such scenarios. Dealing with one disappointment is enough to frustrate a customer. But to deal with a double disappointment, that is a totally different issue.
As a matter of fact, it has been found that for some customers, double deviation can lead to feelings of resentment and even revenge. Customers who feel the company is just not doing enough to resolve the situation can go into full “enemy” mode. Some customers would want to hit back at the company. There is no limit to the negative things some customers can do to a brand when they believe the brand has, not only failed to live up to expectations but also, cause some kind of harm to the customer.
The system that is in place to handle complaints also has a big role to play in how customers handle the issue of Double Deviation. For instance, it is one thing if a single individual (or unit) handles the first deviation but a totally different entity handles the second wrong. In such a situation, the second entity can use the fact that it is new to the problem to better calm the customer down. The new entity, because it is not “tainted” by the first deviation, can have a better chance of calming an angry customer and, by extension, solving the second problem.
It is also a different ballgame if the one who handled the first problem is also the same entity handling the second challenge. In that situation, the one cannot claim not to know what the issue is all about. The employee would have been “tainted” by the issue and so it might be a tad more difficult to get the dissatisfied customer to cool down. However, it is entirely possible that the entity involved can argue that having prior knowledge of the challenge can help in finding a solution to the problem.
In spite of all of the negatives associated with double deviation, research has found that there is one variable that affects how customers react to double deviation. In a study published in a February 2022 edition of the Journal of Services Marketing, researchers found that customer forgiveness had a role to play when there is double deviation. The study was titled “Investigating the role of customer forgiveness following a double deviation”. According to the study, when customers forgive the business after a double deviation, there is a reduction in the post-recovery customer complaints. Normal reactions such as going online to complain and also to complain to third parties tend to reduce when customers truly forgive the business.
It is a fact that customer forgiveness is integral to the proper functioning of any business-customer relationship. Just as in any kind of relationship, there is always the possibility for one or both parties to become offended. Occasionally, a business might fail in its attempt to give customers a good experience. If the issue at stake is one of those minor issues that occur within routine customer-firm exchange relationships, then customer forgiveness is not too difficult to achieve.
However, when the issues at stake are much more serious, then seeking the customer’s forgiveness cannot be left to chance. The organisation must put structures in place to seek and obtain the customer’s forgiveness. Forgiveness must not be seen as a something that would just happen if the situation is resolved.
Customer forgiveness must however only be sought for when the matter that resulted in the disappointment or anger is resolved. A business cannot go about seeking forgiveness when it has not solve the problem or has not displayed any intention to resolve the problem. Even if the matter will take a while to resolve, the business must be seen to making attempts to bring an amicable end to the situation.
In my experience, the one leading the business in seeking customer forgiveness also matters. I have found that the customer’s forgiveness is also easier to obtain when the forgiveness is sought for from the very top. If the Chief Executive herself drives to a customer’s premises to seek forgiveness, it carries more weight than if a junior officer did same. The customer seeing a C-suite executive in his office or at his house will instantly know that the business means business. The customer will know that his business is truly valued by the organisation. When a busy Managing Director takes time off his busy schedule to seek your forgiveness, it is quite difficult to respond in the negative.
No front line employee sets out in the morning to go give poor customer service. However, there is always that possibility that things might go down south. It is when those times happen, when things do not go according to plan, that businesses appreciate the need for customer forgiveness.
From the above discussion, it is important that businesses know that without customer forgiveness, double deviation can result in a dire consequences for any brand. The business-customer relationship can survive one mistake that is quickly and amiably resolved. However, there is a double deviation, then things are different. In such a situation, deliberate attempts must be made to seek the customer’s forgiveness. Anything less, and the brand will have a very dissatisfied customer on its hand.
